NavNets: 3D Path-planning system

Abstract

The current state of 3D path-planning leaves room for improvement. To navigate a 3D environment, techniques which were developed for 2D navigation are used and slightly adapted to generate convincing motion. However, these techniques often constrict the motion to a single plane. This constriction is not only a limitation, but also increases the error. We created a new method to compute a path in a 3D world without a planar constraint. We will discuss the computation of a Navigation Volume Network (NavNet), and how it finds a path. A NavNet is the 3D generalization of NavMeshes, and holds boundary and connection information which is utilized when planning a path for motion. Similar to how NavMeshes allow path-planning by simplifying the ground meshes, the NavNet simplifies the search space by approximating the 3D world through sampling.